THE NEW YEAR IS MOVING ALONG!

Good evening Friends and Family,

Christmas Decorations are down.  I think every one misses the lights, family and friends, posadas, good food and the Joy of the Holidays.  There is always a rush when year ends and New Year breaks open.

Not one for resolutions but moving on with unfinished tasks.  A new optimism to achieve more, to live in a more peaceful just world.  To grow older more graciously. To grow closer to my family, especially my nieces and nephews.  To travel one more time to the Donegal Irish sea shore.  To cherish more deeply my Irish roots; to ride again the cable car across the bay to the Dursey Island, and walk to the end of the island, to my mom's neighborhood.  I PRAY to be more focused in my work  in the clinic.

Our mission is nearing 50 years of existence.  As Church, we have accomplished much.  We have witnessed much suffering; internal armed conflict for more than 30 years, earthquake in 76 with thousands killed in 33 seconds,  huracaines and now wave of daily crime and violence.  But yes we feel the presence of GOD in our lives and world here.

Yesterday, at the end of the work day we celebrated the 23rd birthday with a special patient and friend of many of us at the Clinic. You would have heard of her if you check Face Book of the Clinica Maxeña.  Reyna celebrated 23 years of life.  She invited clinic workers to celebrate with her.  She bought the cakes and I added some pop and ice cream and a candle.  Our clinic band provided music and sang the Mañanitas, a very popular HAPPY BIRTHDAY song, celebrating ones birthday.  Each worker rose and walked to the front of the room and hugged Reyna. The room became quiet as Reyna began to talk in a quiet voice.  Reyna thanked us for being a part of her life and helping her during the time of the birth of her baby, when no one else was helping.  We added joy and importance to her being, as she said, "you gave me an inheritance", my baby.  Because of her epilepsy and being a single mom, she was abandoned by her family much of her life and more so when she needed them most. She returned from the hospital to our clinic with her baby and lived there for two months.  One of our workers assisted in the reconciliation by her family. We taught her how to care for her baby, JAUANA. The clinic also improved her living conditions; our maintenance man partitioned off space in the family kitchen, where she had been living, put up a door, light, and a cement floor and we provided her a bed and cupboard. She is doing very well.  Her baby now weighs ten pounds, smiles and a very happy baby.  She comes always to the clinic for her medication for epilepsy.  She is attentive to her baby's needs.  She supplements breast milk with formula, which we provide.  We of the Clinica Maxeña are pleased and proud to have been there for her when she needed our presence.  We are richly blessed by patients like Reyna. THANK YOU, REYNA.  Thank YOU also for walking this journey with us with prayers and donations.  Check out our Facebook page! Clinica Maxeña.  Check out our Guatemala Mission page on the Diocese of Helena Montana Web Page. DONATE ON LINE.  Blessings for a wonderful 2013.

Sheila McShane

The Year Comes to an END!

It is dark out yet our star of peace, with DOVE shining bright, adorns the adjacent building as I drift into sleep.  2012 is coming to a close in less than a week.  Time moves on so quickly at times with so many happenings in our lives and world; we barely have time to take note. I have neglected my diary that I kept for so many years.  I am 69 years now; I have been back in Mission since 2006.  Prior to that I served in Guatemala for 17 years. I have witnessed great changes. Homes were once made primarily from bamboo with roofs of dried banana leaves; now the majority are from block and two stories.  There is little land available to cultivate. Lights are now available is most homes, if only one light bulb, replacing candle light.  Mobile phones and internet cafes are part of reality for the younger generation.  Cars and buses fill the road ways as do the famous TUC TUCS, or three wheel taxis.  Long gone is the healthy custom to walk for sometimes miles to reach ones destination. First dirt roads replaced the mountain paths but now paved roads, with pot holes, are becoming more common. Motor bikes also fill the roads as they weave in and out of cars and pedestrians.

Missionaries are also fewer in number then in the sixties when our Mission began.  Vocations and local managed churches are a reality.  Once Latin America was considered a Catholic continent; that too has changed as protestant evangelization made its way into all the mountain villages, towns and cities. The World was changing around us and we adapted our lives to the changes.

WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD FOR OUR CLINIC?  We are partially dependent on others for donations in order to care for the poor.  There is no health care or medicaid here. As one put it; if you have money, you live; if you don't you die.  Help sir as we go forward with hope, prayer and caring of others. The Clinic was founded in 1966 so we have witnessed many health improvements in the population despite the extreme poverty. We have had the generosity of Ophthalmologists who come twice a year for Cataract and other eye surgeries. Our clinic serves now over 15,000 patients a year. The most common diseases are diabetes, malnutrition of children under 5, tuberculosis is making a comeback, AIDS more common.

It has been nice to have friends here from El Salvador; Susan, CSJP and Marie Carmen visiting for the Holidays.  Our town Fiesta of Santo Tomas is over.  13 B'aktun is over and the WORLD did not end as predicted.  One from clinic commemorated the dawn with candles and prayer for family, friends, and the Clinica Maxeña..

Farewell 2012.  Blessing and JOY to all friends and Family. May 2013 bring peace and joy to all people.

Love Sheila

Visiting and being in SOLIDARITY with those who SUFFERED in recent Earthquake in Guatemala.

Friends and Family,

I am still in the BLOG world but just off line a bit. Work is busy; I have had some issues with arthritic and sciatic pain. I have to slow down to rest. Reflexologia is helping; I am going two times a week.
I am happy we offer this therapy  in our Medicinal Plant Clinic.  This is a first time for me for Reflexologia and it does help the pain and also also helps is a Medicinal Tea, twice a day.

Last week, all the Clinic staff made a journey to the State of San Marcos.  This city was perhaps the area of the country who suffered the most in the Guatemalan earthquake on November  7th. This type of news disappears from the front page of newspapers, as do the PROMISES, to help the persons who suffered from a natural disaster.  Proof of this is  that there are still shelters from the disaster "AGATHA", more than a few years ago, and the people feel forgotten.

We had contacted the Pastoral Social of the Diocese of San Marcos. They were waiting for us when we arrived in a van, with 18 workers and myself.  We had packed a lunch and two thermos of coffee for the journey.  It was a four and half hour trip. We had collected both donations of food products and financial donations from our Diocese. We were able to purchase 1800  pounds of the basic foods; beans, corn, sugar, rice, coffee and protein supplement. We donated 18 wool blankets from our clinic.  We were pleased that they suggested if we liked we could donate the food products and blankets directly to the shelters. We were pleased with this decision as many did not want to leave the donated items in a collection center, not knowing when people in need would receive the products. We traveled a short distance to the shelters as most of the damage and deaths from this earthquake were in the capital City of San Marcos.  Many buildings were marked with large X's  by International Engineers for destruction for safety reasons.

The shelters are tent like structures with minimal space for personal belongings, but rather just room for mattresses.  Several families have to share the same tent like structures, which were donated by International Organizations.  The shelter that was most impressive and sad was a large make shift tent, covered also with plastic, that was home for 43 families for sleep only. In the surrounding area was their partially or completely destroyed homes, where they could store some personal belongings, but could not live or sleep in their homes for safety reasons. For many there is no sign of their home; it was completely destroyed in 40 seconds of the earthquake. In this tent like structure there are 150 members of the families, which includes 60 children.

We left our donations in 3 different shelters.  We decided though we wanted to return to the largest make shift tent shelter, before Christmas, to bring tamales, toys and Onil Stove for cooking.

Yesterday, a week later from our first journey, we returned to SAN Marcos and to the shelter, which is named "EL ROSARIO"  As promised we brought tamales, juice, some toys, INCLUDING SOCCER BALLS,  an Onil Stove and two ONIL water purifiers.  The people were informed of our plan and were awaiting our arrival. We also brought Christmas decorations, and lights and music and a small Christmas Nativity. With the help of the persons in the shelter, we decorated outside and inside; place the Nativity, set up the ONIL Stove, played christmas music,  distributed the toys and sat down to share tamales and juice.  A joyous Christmas celebration.

We again were blessed with the presence of Pastoral Social of the Diocese of San Marcos.

Since on our first journey we had med a big brown guard doggie, who was tied up and obviously very hungry, I brought along some dog food.  His name escapes me but he gobbled down the dog food in a few minutes. I gave his young owner ten pounds of dog food, from my own COCO's supply.

A JOYOUS CRISTMAS JOURNEY AND CELEBRATION FOR ALL.

THE GIFT OF SIGHT

Friends and Family,
Time flies and with so many helping hands and love we seem to get a lot accomplished.  The eye surgeries, mostly Cataracts, are history.  An intense week as 8 surgeries a day, many patients returned home with the GIFT OF SIGHT.  Good meals served to all the team; wonderful, committed, talented cooks who served over 150 meals to Doctors, clinic workers, Missioners, patients and family each day.

General surgical patients accompanied to two different hospitals with 12 patients recipients to better health. This included a baby who had a cleft lip repaired; this baby had to recover from malnutrition to qualify and we were happy this was accomplished through our Nutrition Project.  Government Hospitals should provide this service but they do not until it is an emergency, such as a strangulated hernia.

Our border, Reyna and infant baby are still with us, but she is doing well as is baby. Reyna is single Mom, with epilepsy and handicap arm and leg.  Her family rejected her at the time of her birth.  We knew her from her epilepsy treatment and pre natal care.  She was a planned caesarean but birth pains came one evening and her women neighbors woke me from my sleep. I knew she had to give birth in the hospital so I called the ambulance and her neighbors accompanied her. She had a normal birth and I picked her up with the baby when the family did not respond. Baby Juana weighed 5 pounds four ounces. We admitted her and the baby to the clinic ward; we put up our new crib. The family has responded at last, with her younger single sister coming frequently to see her and the baby.  Reyna was living in the family kitchen, without a door or ventilation and a dirt floor, and a smokey environment.  We knew she could not live alone. Martin, a neighbor and one of our workers, began to negotiate and counsel the family to their responsibility. We committed to fix her living situation to be a bit more Humane. THIS PROJECT IS ABOUT TO HAPPEN AND WE HOPE SHE WILL BE WITH HER FAMILY IN DECEMBER.  MORE LATER.

Clinic very busy as we come to end of year. You may also be aware we had an earthquake so life is not dull.  I have strayed a bit from my blog but thank you for your interest and support. Sheila